Good News Network, May 30, 2017, https://tinyurl.com/yb2jxkqh
This group of Muslim volunteers are being hailed for their compassionate gesture of solidarity towards an abused Mosul church earlier this week.
According to the Facebook group This Is Christian Iraq, young community Muslims volunteered to help rebuild the Monastery of Mar Georges in the Al Arabi neighborhood of Mosul, Iraq.
The church had been damaged during the two-year reign of ISIS jihadists. Since the city was only reclaimed after a siege in November, rebuilding has been slow.
The volunteers became inspired to help after they heard rumors that Christian families were still being attacked within the city.
So, able-bodied men and women stepped up to remind local Christians that “Mosul is [as much] yours as it’s ours” and “our differences are our strength”.
Metro UK news story, May 29, 2017, https://metro.co.uk/2017/05/29/christian-church-destroyed-by-isis-rebuilt-by-muslim-residents-6670055/
A church in a district once terrorised by so-called Islamic State has been restored with the help of Muslim neighbours.
Local residents were horrified after reports claimed Christians were still facing abuse.
Volunteers wanted to help rebuild the church to show that Iraq welcomes both Christians and Muslims.
They said they wanted to show that ‘Mosul is yours as it’s ours’ and ‘our differences are our strength’.
Iraq has one of the smallest, but oldest, Christian communities in the world but Isis oversaw the destruction of Iraqi churches, books and Christian spaces during their occupation of the city.
Mosul is set to be liberated completely by the end of next month, after two years of Islamist domination.
One of the areas occupied was al-Arabi in Mosul, where the Mar Georges monastery is located.
During the Isis occupation the Chaldean church, which is an Iraqi church in full communion with the Pope in Rome, was shot at by terrorists.
It was left in a ruined state after Kurdish and allied forces pushed Isis out of the district.
But the rebuilding effort this week was sparked when Muslims in the community were accused of harassing a Christian family, something which the volunteers said was a false rumour.
They decided to take matters into their own hands to improve community relations.
Photos shared on This Is Christian Iraq show how Muslim neighbours rushed to the church to clean the space and repair the holy rooms.
The group of inter-faith volunteers wanted to send a message to show they were united.